Cleaner shrimp

Care at a glance

The cleaner shrimp is perhaps the most rewarding invertebrate in the reef tank: it sets up a genuine cleaning station, waves its long white antennae and then goes cheerfully to work inside the mouths of fish ten times its size. Your own hand gets a cleaning too the moment you put it in the tank.

It is not fussy, eats up any leftovers and helps keep the tank tidy. Two together works well — they are hermaphrodites and often pair up. The usual shrimp rules apply here as well: slow drip acclimation, a stable salinity and absolutely no copper-based medication in the tank.

Best not combined with

• Harlequin tuskfishChoerodon fasciatus
• Zebra lionfishDendrochirus zebra
• Valentini pufferCanthigaster valentini
• Picasso triggerfishRhinecanthus aculeatus
• Snowflake eelEchidna nebulosa
• Ribbon eelRhinomuraena quaesita
• Niger triggerfishOdonus niger
• Clown triggerfishBalistoides conspicillum
• Porcupine pufferDiodon holocanthus
• Dogface pufferArothron nigropunctatus
• Volitans lionfishPterois volitans
• Painted frogfishAntennarius pictus
• Miniatus grouper (coral hind)Cephalopholis miniata
• Fuzzy dwarf lionfishDendrochirus brachypterus
• Coral banded shrimpStenopus hispidus
• Green brittle starOphiarachna incrassata
• Peacock mantis shrimpOdontodactylus scyllarus
• Purple reef lobsterEnoplometopus daumi
• Sally lightfoot crabPercnon gibbesi

Related species

• Hermit crab (red leg)Clibanarius sp.
• Turbo snailTurbo fluctuosus
• Fire shrimpLysmata debelius
• Peppermint shrimpLysmata wurdemanni
• Sexy shrimpThor amboinensis
• Coral banded shrimpStenopus hispidus